Economic Events on November 1, 2012

The figures for motor vehicle sales for October will be released today. The consensus estimate is that 14.8 million autos were sold last month, which would be 200,000 less than the previous month.

The Challenger Job-Cut Report will be released at 7:30 AM Eastern time, providing an estimate of the number of layoffs in October.

The monthly Chain Store Sales report will be released today. This report on sales in chain stores gives a look at the health of stores that make up about 10% of all retail sales.

At 8:15 AM Eastern time, the monthly ADP Employment Report will be released. Investors will be watching this number to get advance notice on the state of the job market in advance of the government’s report on Friday.

At 8:30 AM Eastern time, the U.S. government will release its weekly Jobless Claims report. The consensus is that there were 369,000 new jobless claims last week, which would would be the same as the previous week.

Also at 8:30 AM Eastern time, the Productivity and Costs report for the third quarter of 2012 will be released. The consensus is that non-farm productivity increased by 2.0% in the last quarter and labor unit costs increased 1.2%.

At 9:45 AM Eastern time, the weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index will be released, providing an update on Americans’ views of the U.S. economy, their personal finances and the buying climate.

At 10:00 AM Eastern time, the ISM manufacturing index for October will be released. The consensus estimate is that it remained at a value of 51.5 last month, and will still signal economic growth as it stays above the mid-point of 50.

Also at 10:00 AM Eastern time, the monthly report on Consumer Confidence for October will be released. The consensus index level is 74, which would be a 3.7 point increase from last month’s number.

Also at 10:00 AM Eastern time, the Construction Spending report for September will be released, and the consensus is that there was an increase of 0.6% in spending compared to the previous month.

At 10:30 AM Eastern time, the weekly Energy Information Administration Natural Gas Report will be released, giving an update on natural gas inventories in the United States.

Also at 10:30 AM Eastern time, the weekly Energy Information Administration Petroleum Status Report will be released, giving investors an update on oil inventories in the United States.

At 4:30 PM Eastern time, the Federal Reserve will release its Money Supply report, showing the amount of liquidity available in the U.S. economy.

Also at 4:30 PM Eastern time, the Federal Reserve will release its Balance Sheet report, showing the amount of liquidity the Fed has injected into the economy by adding or removing reserves.